1 Samuel 17:28 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
1 Samuel 17:28
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men; and Eliab’s anger was kindled against David, and he said, Why camest thou down hither? and with whom hast thou left those few sheep in the wilderness? I know thy pride, and the naughtiness of thine heart; for thou art come down that thou mightest see the battle.
great (in any sense) · definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
brother
אָחִ֣יו'a.Chiv
H251
a brother (used in the widest sense of literal relation… · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
heard
וַיִּשְׁמַ֤עvai.yish.Ma'
H8085
to hear intelligently (often with implication of attent… · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
a man in general (singly or collectively) · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Matthew 10:36 And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household.
Genesis 37:4 And when his brethren saw that their father loved him more than all his brethren, they hated him, and could not speak peaceably unto him.
Genesis 37:8 And his brethren said to him, Shalt thou indeed reign over us? or shalt thou indeed have dominion over us? And they hated him yet the more f…
Genesis 37:11 And his brethren envied him; but his father observed the saying.
Proverbs 18:19 A brother offended is harder to be won than a strong city: and their contentions are like the bars of a castle.
Mark 3:21 And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.
1 Samuel 16:7 But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth…
1 Samuel 16:13 Then Samuel took the horn of oil, and anointed him in the midst of his brethren: and the Spirit of the LORD came upon David from that day fo…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on 1 Samuel 17:12-30
Forty days the two armies lay encamped facing one another, each advantageously posted, but neither forward to engage. Either they were parleying and treating of an accommodation or they were waiting for recruits; and perhaps there were frequent skirmishes between small detached parties. All this while, twice a day, morning and evening, did the insulting champion appear in the field and repeat his challenge, his own heart growing more and more proud for his not being answered and the people of Israel more and more timorous, while God designed hereby to ripen him for destruction and to make Israel's deliverance the more illustrious. All this while David is keeping his father's sheep, but at th…
make his father's house free in Israel--His family should be exempted from the impositions and services to which the general body of the Israelites were subjected.
Adam Clarke on 1 Samuel 17:19
Fighting with the Philistines - See at the end of the chapter, Sa1 17:58 (note).
John Gill on 1 Samuel 17:28
And Eliab his eldest brother heard when he spake unto the men,.... Heard the questions he put to them, by which he perceived his inclination:
and Eliab's anger was kindled against David; because what he had said carried in it a tacit reproach of him, and others, that they had not the courage, and did not attempt to encounter with the Philistine; or the displeasure he expressed was either out of affection to him, fearing, or being assured almost he would perish in the enterprise; or rather out of envy to him, lest succeeding in so bold an action, he should gain superior glory to him, and the rest of his brethren, who yet was the youngest of them:
and he said, why comest thou down hither? fo…
Why, he says, have you come? etc. Let the Jews be angry with Christ, and let them reproach Him with blasphemies about the compassion of His coming and incarnation; let us return due thanks to Him, who, seeking us on earth, deigned to leave those most blessed cohorts of angels in heaven; which, although they are innumerable in the many choirs of spiritual hosts, are nonetheless not unreasonably called a few sheep, until the hundredth sheep that had strayed is brought back, and with us added, they rejoice in the perfection of their number. Let us rejoice that, having inclined His heavens, in which peace and justice reign, He came down of His own will to see our battle. For He descended to confront the enormous enemy, to conquer him in battle; that He might crown in His kingdom His own who had rejoiced with Him in victory.
Now when David came, one of his brothers rebuked him, saying, "Why did you leave those few sheep and come to the battle?" This elder brother, maliciously chiding David who typified our Lord, signified the Jewish people who jealously slandered Christ the Lord even though he had come for the salvation of the human race, for they frequently chastised him with many insults. "Why did you leave the sheep and come to the battle?" Does it not seem to you as though through his lips the devil is speaking in envy of the salvation of humankind? It is as though he said to Christ: "Why did you leave the ninety-nine sheep who had strayed and come looking for the one which was lost, in order that you might call him back to your sheepfold, after freeing him with the staff of the cross from the hand of the spiritual Goliath, that is, from the power of the devil?" "Why did you leave those few sheep?" He spoke the truth, although in a wicked and haughty spirit. Jesus intended to leave the ninety-nine sheep, as was already said, in order to seek the one and to bring it back to his sheepfold, that is, to the company of the angels.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
David — Beloved, the eighth and youngest son of Jesse, a citizen of Bethlehem. His father seems to have been a man in humble life. His mother’s name is not recorded. Some think she was the Nahash of 2 Sam.…
Desert — (1.) Heb. midbar, “pasture-ground;” an open tract for pasturage; a common (Joel 2:22). The “backside of the desert” (Ex. 3:1) is the west of the desert, the region behind a man, as the east is the…
Elah, The Valley Of — (valley of the terebinth), the valley in which David killed Goliath. (1 Samuel 17:2,19) It lay somewhere near Socoh of Judah and Azekah, and was nearer Ekron than any other Philistine town. 1Sam. 17.
Elhanan — Whom God has graciously bestowed. (1.) A warrior of the time of David famed for his exploits. In the Authorized Version (2 Sam. 21:19) it is recorded that “Elhanan the son of Jaare-oregim, a…
Eliab — To whom God is father. (1.) A Reubenite, son of Pallu (Num. 16:1, 12; 26:8, 9; Deut. 11:6). (2.) A son of Helon, and chief of the tribe of Zebulun at the time of the census in the wilderness (Num.…
Philistines — (Gen. 10:14, R.V.; but in A.V., “Philistim”), a tribe allied to the Phoenicians. They were a branch of the primitive race which spread over the whole district of the Lebanon and the valley of the…
War — The Israelites had to take possession of the Promised Land by conquest. They had to engage in a long and bloody war before the Canaanitish tribes were finally subdued. Except in the case of Jericho…
Championship · .Goliath and David — .Goliath and David
Eliab · 4. — 4.
Jesse · General references — General references
Sarcasm · .Eliab to David — .Eliab to David
Eliab’s
אֱלִיאָ֨ב'e.li.'Av
H446
Eliab · proper noun, a man's name
anger
אַף֩'af
H639
properly · noun, common masculine singular construct
kindled
וַיִּֽחַרvai.yi.char-
H2734
to glow or grow warm · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
David
בְּדָוִ֜דbe.da.Vid
H1732
David · preposition + proper noun, a man's name
said
וַיֹּ֣אמֶרvai.Yo.mer
H559
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
down
יָרַ֗דְתָּya.Rad.ta
H3381
to descend (literally · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
left
נָטַ֜שְׁתָּna.Tash.ta
H5203
properly · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
those
הָהֵ֙נָּה֙ha.He.nah
H2007
themselves (often used emphatic for the copula · definite article + personal pronoun, 3rd person feminine plural
few
מְעַ֨טme.'At
H4592
a little or few (often adverbial or compar.) · noun, common masculine singular construct
sheep
הַצֹּ֤אןha.Tzon
H6629
a collective name for a flock (of sheep or goats) · definite article + noun, common both genders singular absolute
wilderness
בַּמִּדְבָּ֔רba.mid.Bar
H4057
a pasture (i.e. open field · preposition with the article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
know
יָדַ֣עְתִּיya.Da'.ti
H3045
to know (properly · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
pride
זְדֹנְךָ֗ze.do.ne.Kha
H2087
arrogance · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
naughtiness
רֹ֣עַRo.a'
H7455
badness (as marring) · noun, common masculine singular construct
heart
לְבָבֶ֔ךָle.va.Ve.kha
H3824
the heart (as the most interior organ) · noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
down
יָרָֽדְתָּya.Ra.de.ta
H3381
to descend (literally · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
see
רְא֥וֹתre.'ot
H7200
to see · verb, qal infinitive construct
battle
הַמִּלְחָמָ֖הha.mil.cha.Mah
H4421
a battle (i.e. the engagement) · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
Keil & Delitzsch on 1 Samuel 17:1-54
A war between the Philistines and the Israelites furnished David with the opportunity of displaying before Saul and all Israel, and greatly to the terror of the enemies of his people, that heroic power which was firmly based upon his bold and pious trust in the omnipotence of the faithful covenant God (Sa1 17:1-3). A powerful giant, named Goliath, came forward from the ranks of the Philistines, and scornfully challenged the Israelites to produce a man who would decide the war by a single combat with him (Sa1 17:4-11). David, who had returned home for a time from the court of Saul, and had just been sent into the camp by his father with provisions for his elder brothers who were serving in th…
Uncharitableness · to fight Goliath — to fight Goliath
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
